Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty during Juventus’ new 1-1 draw with Atlanta in an interesting
match in Turin in the Italian Serie A.
With a superb shot from Federico Chiesa, the Italian champion took the lead in the first half, but
Remo Freueller equalized with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar before the ball entered the goal
and the visitors scored a well-deserved point after the break.
Ronaldo missed a golden opportunity to regain the lead minutes after the equalizer when goalkeeper
Pierluigi Giulini saved the penalty.
Andrea Pirlo’s team ranks third with 24 points, six ahead of Atlanta, eighth in the table, and remains
unbeaten this season, but tied in half of its 12 matches in the competition.
“We need positive results on our soil in these matches,” Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo told Sky Italia.
“We had opportunities, but we could not take advantage of them and when a match is left with this balance,
anything may happen,” he added.
Alvaro Morata was guilty of wasting a surprisingly easy opportunity early on when he chose to shoot with
the heel in front of the empty goal, but his touch was weak and lacked accuracy.
The two goalkeepers played a prominent role, as Golini saved two dangerous attempts for Morata in
the second half, and Wojciech Chesney saved dangerous chances from Dovan Zapata, Christian Romero,
and substitute Alejandro Gomez.
“Giulini was amazing,” said Atlanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
He continued, “He saved Ronaldo’s penalty kick, who wasted once in a hundred times, and we are happy
with the level of the goalkeeper. Unfortunately, Chesney responded in a magnificent way to Romero’s shot
and I thought he scored a goal.”
And speculation about a possible departure of Atlanta captain Gomez after reports of a dispute with coach
Gasperini over the visitors’ preparations overshadowed the Argentinian’s victory over Fiorentina on Sunday
and sat on the bench today in Turin.
But the playmaker quickly left an imprint after coming off early in the second half and helped the team
equalize and create many good chances.
